[Bf-funboard] property panel "switch" section toggles.. thoughts?

[Hadrien Brissaud]

I agree panel titles should be aligned, but the toggle buttons don't bring
anything new compared to the checkboxes and as of now look quite
inconsistent with the rest of the GUI, so why not keep the checkboxes and
move them to the far right, or right after the panel titles ?

And since you linked William Reynish's blog post : it's great wanting to
clean up the GUI, only Blender is not a decorative object, and it is
important that many functions stay accessible without having to open a
menu, even though they "clutter" (really, they're just damn handy).
Indicators like the snap toggle, etc. have to stay visible so that there is
no ambiguity for the user as to whether it's on or off at the moment
(without having to try and grab something to be sure).
He also seems to be leaving actual functionality behind, like the
possibility to rename a list item (I don't see this possibility explicity
in his mockups). Overall, I think the thought he's put into that is less
centered on actual usability than on aesthetic concerns... indeed his
mockups look clean and readable, but information has to be shown as much as
possible, after all this is part of the purpose of such a tool.


On 15 July 2013 21:38, David Jeske <davidj at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Mon, Jul 15, 2013 at 8:36 AM, Justas Ingelevičius <justas at zvejone.lt
> >wrote:
>
> > nice idea. I suggest to make switch blue when it is on. It will look
> > consistent with other GUI elements and will add more visual clarity.
> >
> > http://www.pasteall.org/pic/show.php?id=55645
>
>
> That is clear, but also pretty loud/attention-grabbing. Possibly too much
> so.
>
> I'm not sure why it's so important to have the panel titles aligned,
> >
>
> Titles which drift around in unpredictable places are harder to scan it's a
> usability issue. It's also an attempt to reduce some of the unnecessary
> visual clutter/alignment edges. We need the checkboxes for functionality,
> but we don't actually need the titles unaligned.
>
> Perhaps the triangles could be removed and the checkboxes moved in
> > their place, but then it needs to be better communicated what the
> > title is and that it is a think you can click on. For that I think you
> > need a background color on the panel header, maybe slightly bolder
> > text, and subtle highlighting on mouse over.
>
>
> I agree 110%.
>
> The "switch" mockup is simply an experimental idea to create a solution
> which works on the default-theme, with the triangles still present. If
> we're willing to change the default presentation and remove triangles
> entirely (perhaps in 2.7's UI revamp), this becomes easier and even
> cleaner.
>
> For fun, check out Billrey's visual presentation of some of the alignment
> clutter...
>
>
> http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cytCa4V2c9c/TqRpeygxFFI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/9c3X0LWQax4/s1600/Blender_ui_cleanup_before_lines.jpg
>
> >
> http://billrey.blogspot.com/2011/10/cleaning-up-blender-ui.html
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